The federal government has selected an Indigenous artist’s design concept for a planned national monument to Canada’s mission in Afghanistan.
Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay announced Monday that Adrian Stimson‘s design won out after many rounds of consultations with the public and stakeholders. He said veterans influenced the choice of final design.
Stimson is a member of the Siksika First Nation in southern Alberta and a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces who served at CFB Esquimalt.
Stimson was sent to Afghanistan through the Canadian Forces Artist Program. He said he tried to capture what he and other Canadians were experiencing in Afghanistan through his art.
Visual artist discusses meaning of new monument to Canada’s mission in Afghanistan
Adrian Stimson, the visual artist behind the design chosen for the new national monument to Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, discusses how his experiences as a war artist inspired the design for the monument. ‘The space speaks to our ideas of safety, security and home, and why we fight for it,’ Stimson said.
Stimson’s design for the monument “draws on elements of healing from the Medicine Wheel and takes the form of a circular, sacred space of safety, a home base of reflection, memory and contemplation,” says the press release.
“It is made up of four portals, where an interior area is the sanctuary where the fallen are remembered. Inscribed on the walls of three of the quadrants is the year, names of the fallen and maple leaves, in several rows. The fourth southeast quadrant wall facing the direction of Afghanistan is dedicated to fallen Afghan allies. In the centre, four bronze flak jackets stand draped on crosses — utilitarian yet poignant reminders of protection.”
Four bronze flak jackets draped on crosses — part of Team Stimson’s design concept for the National Monument to Canada’s Mission in Afghanistan. (Team STIMSON)
“Team Stimson’s design captures the intellectual, emotional, spiritual and physical aspects of war, from both Canadian and Afghan perspectives,” said MacAulay.
Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) said the monument will recognize “an important chapter in Canada’s history and pay tribute to the commitment and sacrifice of Canadians in helping to rebuild Afghanistan.”
Canada joined the mission in Afghanistan in October 2001 and continued to support military efforts there until March 2014. More than 40,000 Canadian Armed Forces members served in Afghanistan and 159 were killed on missions in theatre during the 13-year operation.
Stimson’s design favoured by public
The monument will be built on the LeBreton Flats in Ottawa, near the Canadian War Museum and the National Holocaust Monument.
Consultations on the monument began in January 2020.
According to a Veterans Affairs report, the first phase was an open, online consultation on the objectives, visitor experience and form and character of the monument. This phase received 4,056 responses from across the country – including some from veterans and their family members.
Team Stimson’s design concept “draws on elements of healing from the Medicine Wheel.” (Team STIMSON)
The second phase of the consultation process consisted of two in-person meetings with stakeholder groups in February 2020. Representatives of the VAC Ministerial Commemoration Advisory Group, Pikwàkanagàn First Nation and Kitigan Zibi Anishinābeg First Nation attended these meetings.
The report said stakeholders agreed “that expressing Canada’s deep gratitude for the sacrifices made by Canadians who served in Afghanistan should be the most important objective of the Monument.”
In May 2021, the federal government asked the public to weigh in again through an online survey, this time on five design proposals selected by a jury.
According to the press release, Team Stimson’s concept was a favourite during this part of the consultation process, receiving between 52 and 62 per cent support from over 10,000 responses.
Next steps in the process of creating the monument will involve a detailed development of the selected design and then construction.
VAC said it does not have an anticipated start date for construction but expects it to happen “as soon as possible.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
